INJURY ACCIDENT NEAR AKRON
The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a two-vehicle injury accident on Highway 12 near Akron, Iowa. Their investigation found that a white Ford truck was waiting to turn west into the Akron City Park when a red Buick SUV did not see the white Ford truck and rear-ended it. The Buick SUV then continued into the east ditch of Highway 12 and came to a rest. The driver of the Buick sustained minor injuries from the collision and was transported to Hawarden Hospital by the Akron EMS crew. The accident occurred on Thursday. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Akron Fire/EMS crew.
IOWA GUARD ADJUTANT GENERAL ASKS FOR POLICY CHANGES
Iowa National Guard’s adjutant general, Major General Steve Osborn presented state legislators with two key policy proposals today as well. He’s asking legislators to adjust Iowa’s new law on chronic absenteeism. About four-hundred 17- and 18-year-old high schoolers who’ve enlisted in the Iowa Guard are being counted as absent from school when they travel for required screening.
Osborn is also seeking changes in Iowa National Guard Service Scholarships. He proposes that soldiers seeking a professional certificate or credential as well as those getting a college degree be eligible for the state-funded scholarships.
CHIEF JUSTICE CALLS FOR PAY RAISES FOR JUDGES
Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen made another pitch for judges’ pay raises.
Christensen delivered the annual “Condition of the Judiciary” address to legislators this week.
But Christensen says because salaries for many years were frozen, the pay for district court judges — when adjusted for inflation — is still 16-and-a-half percent below what it was in 2010.
Christensen is proposing that Iowa mimic what Kansas has done by passing a law that ties pay for Kansas judges to the salaries of federal judges. Christensen proposes that Iowa district court judges’ pay be 75 percent of what a federal district court judge’s salary is, with a four year transition to get to that level. Appellate judges in Iowa would also get raises, under a framework and time frame.
Christensen covered a variety of other topics, including indigent defense and the state’s magistrate system. She did not address the court system’s computer programming error which led millions in court fees and fines going to the wrong state or local agency for the past five years. A key G-O-P lawmaker says it appears the problem was fixed last month and it will be up to legislators to review the distributions and decide whether to make repayments for errors in previous years.
IF TIKTOK VANISHES, SOME IOWA MERCHANTS WILL NEED NEW MARKETING PLANS
A law banning TikTok nationwide will take effect Sunday, unless the U-S Supreme Court intervenes and some Iowa small businesses will be forced to rethink their marketing strategies. Maddie Palmersheim, who runs a plant-based bakery in Cedar Falls, says the app brought her support and exposure, but it didn’t always translate to increased sales. Palmersheim says she plans to take a more traditional marketing approach if the app goes away, saying it’s one of several tools she uses. TikTok has around 170-million American users, including some seven-million small business owners. Officials with the app say it drove 15-billion dollars in revenue for small businesses in 2023.
CASES OF FLU, RSV, COVID ON THE RISE IN IOWA
The Iowa Department of Health reports hospitals are seeing an increase in respiratory virus cases in recent weeks. MercyOne Des Moines infectious disease consultant Aneesa Afroze says they’re seeing more patients with the flu, COVID-19, and R-S-V, but she anticipates case numbers will drop as we move further away from the holidays. Afroze recommends you take precautions to prevent the spreading any illness you may be carrying. Precautions include: staying home when you’re sick, staying away from other immunocompromised people in your family, especially the elderly, and getting vaccinated.
BILLS THAT BANS SHARK PETTING FAILS TO ADVANCE
A bill that would make it a crime to let people pet sharks has been tabled in the Iowa Legislature. The bill was in response after a small shark bit an employee at a for-profit zoo in West Des Moines, and the shark had to be killed to get it’s teeth out of the employee’s hand. Republican Representative Ray Sorensen of Greenfield sponsored the bill. A Humane Society lobbyist says the zoo still allows people to pet that same kind of shark, which Sorensen says shouldn’t happen. Republican Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake declined to advance the bill, saying he doesn’t like legislation that just affects one business in the state.
